Editorials

WATCH: Dodgers Hometown Series: Walker Buehler

The Dodgers media team is exceptional in what they do, having already brought us such gems as Backstage Dodgers, Dodgers in the Community, and The Dish, helping us get to know our players and team personnel better, as the individuals off the field that they are, and this series should be no different.



In the first installment of their new Hometown Series, narrated by the great Todd Leitz, the Los Angeles Dodgers media team visits ace pitcher Walker Buehler in his – you guessed it – hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.

Previous online series’ have helped us get to know our players and team personnel as the individuals off the field that they are. This new series takes it to an even closer level, visiting and spending time with the player in the place where he grew up.

Here with the Buehler family, we meet with Walker’s mother and father — it was his dad who at one point pushed Walker toward golf as a potential career.

Of course, now the Dodgers ace hosts an annual golf tournament where he most recently opted to benefit Rich Hill’s “Field of Genes” charity in Kentucky.

Let’s take a look at 5 things we learned about Walker Buehler during the series visit to Lexington:

1. He has a cute dog named Nala who, along with Walker, greets us at the door in the opening of the segment.

(Some of you may recall Nala — then a tiny puppy — being present for Walker’s Bobblehead Night back in the opening series of 2019)

2. While playing in the Eastern Little League, besides setting the league record for strikeouts with 140 in one season, he also won the Home Run Derby, and as a kid, was not averse to smile while in uniform.

(Photos provided to Dodger Insider by the Buehler family)

“I felt like a king back then,” Buehler says. “You set any kind of record at the Little League where you’ve been running around for years and years, it was a really cool deal for me at the time.”

3. The future Vanderbilt graduate was referred to by his Henry Clay High School pitching coach Jordan Tarrence as a “cerebral kid”, and he had his number 12 jersey retired.

4. Walker first met his girlfriend McKenzie Marcinek in elementary school and they’ve been together since they began dating in high school.

5. One of Walker and his family’s favorite local haunts is Suggins Bar & Grill, which features such delicious sounding items as the Hot Brown (an open-faced turkey and bacon sandwich), Chicken Finger Salad and Fried Banana Peppers.

For many Dodgers enthusiasts, getting to know the players off the field and learning what makes them tick is just one of many entertaining parts of being a fan, and with an organization full of outstanding individuals, I’m already looking forward to finding out more about our boys in future installments of this series.

You can find part one of the series, along with many more goodies, on the Dodgers YouTube channel. Rowan Kavner of Dodger Insider also has an in depth piece about the visit here.

Gail Johnson

Biggest Dodgers fan north of the border, living about 3,500 miles from my beloved Boys In Blue, in Moncton, NB, Canada. I think Dodger Stadium is the happiest place on Earth. I'll catch up on my sleep in the off-season.

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